Presidents Message
We will continue to need some help setting up and taking down. So arrive at 9:00 and help setup and stay after the educational talk to help return the room in the condition we found it in. Thank you for your help in this.
Mike Dempsey will be discussing re-pivoting clock and watch arbors beginning at 10:00 during the mart. Educational talk at 11:00 by Craig White entitled “Restoring a Scottish Musical Clock.” Craig will also give a short update on Demsey/White Congreve clock making progress. Cleanup at 12:00.
We also need a new secretary. The main job is just to put this newsletter together. Please offer to help so no one is overburdened, only takes around an hour per meeting.
We have some demonstrations planed for upcoming meetings as follows:
- May – Re-pivoting clock and watch arbors (Dempsey)
- September– Balance staff and hairspring replacement (Dempsey)
- November – Winding and Letting Down clock & watch mainsprings (Osterud/Dempsey)
- January – Re-silvering dials (White)
For our live seminar in May, Robert Olney demonstrated glass cutting for clocks. He cut glass for a break arch door using hand tools only. He also showed the use of a diamond wheel grinder and emery paper to cleanup edges, as well as demonstrating use of a suction cup circle cutter to make a round dial to fit a bezel. He supplied handouts with methodology and sources for materials.
Thanks to Bob for teaching us a little about cutting glass.
Danno Osterud made a Presentation on Renaissance Clocks in Milwaukee Art Museum.
You can get free admission from many of the Milwaukee suburban libraries by checking out a pass on a first come first serve basis.
The Museum collection includes wonderful rarities because Milwaukeeans Richard and Erna Flagg collected them and donated them to the Museum. In fact, the Milwaukee Art Museum is known to have the best collection of German Renaissance clocks anywhere outside of Germany.
During the 15th century, clock mechanism began using springs and gears. Around 1500, just in time for the Renaissance, this new technology led to a proliferation of table clocks. These new machines not only could divide the day systematically into hours and minutes, but they could also track the zodiac, phases of the moon, and seasons. Highly esteemed craftsmen would make these for the wealthy patrons who could both afford the valuable mechanism and be able to understand what all these symbols meant.
Danno also showed pictures of many of the other clocks in the museum. This is a must see for horological interested people, especially in our home town. Danno, thanks for sharing.
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A visit to the Halim Time and Glass Museum was suggested. They currently offer guided tours for $25 each for a minimum of 10 people. Web site is https://www.halimmuseum.org/. The museum is in Evanston IL 1.5 hours South of Milwaukee. They are open for the tours Mon-Friday 10-5.
They have the largest remaining items of the Time Museum Clocks from Rockford IL. They have over 1100-time pieces on display including tower clocks, chronometers, automatons, pocket watches, and tall case clocks. Beautifully displayed and preserved. The collections are one of the finest in the world. Many amazing clocks in are displayed and we will have a knowledgeable tour guide to tell us all about them. Also many displays on glass.
Email Craig White cswhite5@yahoo.com if interested and I will propose some dates if we can get 10 interested people.
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Future educational talks planned:
- May 19 – Craig White will make a presentation “Restoring a Scottish Musical Tall Case Clock”
- Sept 22 – Amelia Osterud will give a talk entitled “Chauncey Jerome vs PT Barnum: The Great Bankruptcy of 1856”
We still need some volunteer for talks for 2024 & 2025. Please contact Harry Schulz or myself with ideas or suggestions.
Free tables!! A free silent auction table will also be available.
We had some more clocks donated which the chapter will be selling at the silent auction table.
Hope to see you all there.
Thanks,
Craig
